The present invention relates generally to self-illuminating objects and more particularly to self-illuminating, fabricated, solid objects embodying designs, greetings, or information in a choice of colors.
The background information discussed below is presented to better illustrate the novelty and usefulness of the present invention. This background information is not admitted prior art.
Examples of materials that can be fabricated into solid objects include cement, concrete, plaster, fiberglass, glass, and plastics, to name just a few. These materials may be fabricated into a solid by the setting (i.e., the solidification or hardening) of a liquid or a suspension, by pressing a powdered material into a mold, or any similar known techniques. Fabricated solids can be shaped into a vast variety of objects from an artistically sculpted lawn or garden decoration to paving stones for a patio, walkway, or driveway. Historically, lighting for these surfaces has been mainly from spotlights or appropriately placed lights. There have been some attempts to provide self-illuminating fabricated solid objects, but most efforts in this direction rely on the presence of one or more cavities within the solid objects in which a light source system is housed. These cavities create a structural weakness and a place for moisture or other contaminants to collect.
An example of these illuminating solids include illuminating blocks that are to be used mainly on the periphery of walkways. The light source providing the illumination is placed within transparent, flexible, tubing-like material that is positioned within a recessed channel that is open to the top surface of the stone. To provide power to the light source, an electrical junction box must be inserted into a second, much larger cavity that opens to the bottom surface of the block. These systems, however, present several problems. To avoid moisture from reaching the lighting units, filler must be placed within the flexible, tube-like material around the light source. The filler, of course, also must be transparent so as not to prevent the light from emanating from the surface of the object. The rather large cavity required to house the power system creates a structural weakness within the fabricated solid object. The relatively soft, transparent material used as a surface cover creates additional problems. The soft material cannot withstand the damaging effects of both physical and chemical weathering to which it is exposed, nor can it stand up to the wearing effects of pedestrian or vehicular traffic. What is sorely needed is the means to provide a self-illuminating solid object having a surface that is impervious to the damaging effects of both physical and chemical weathering and impervious to the daily wear that occurs on surfaces on which people and vehicles move.
Other attempts to provide illuminating surfaces rely on wiring that must be embedded into a surface topping, such as asphalt or concrete, as the topping is applied. Cavities must be cut into the surface topping so that the wiring can be connected to a light producing assemblage that must be fitted into each cavity. This type of system use a soft, plastic-like material placed over the light elements through which the light can emanate, but this approach suffers from the same limitations of poor durability as discussed above. Additionally, these systems can only be used in the initial installation of a walkway or a roadway. What is needed is the means to provide for self-illuminating fabricated solid objects that can be used in new and previously installed walkways or driveways, or on any other type of existing hard surface, whether the surface is horizontal, vertical, or inclined.
While some of these attempts to provide for in-pavement lighting use LEDs (light emitting diodes) as a light source, they also rely on a system of optical lenses and prisms to direct the light. These lenses and prisms, however, result in glass or other transparent or translucent weak material being located on the surface of these rather complex housings. To avoid damage from overhead foot or vehicular traffic these units can only be placed on the edge of the walkway or driveway. What is lacking in the art is a homogenous solid matrix incorporating LED light sources within a fabricated solid object that can be used in new or existing walks or driveways and that will last for the life of the solid fabricated object.
Furthermore, there have been attempts to provide illuminating solid materials made in or conveying designs to meet almost any occasion, such as a holiday, birthday, seasonal event, wedding, birth, etc. These are limited, though, by the fact that they must be fabricated from clear transparent materials such as methylmethacrylate, Lexan®, acrylic, or the like. Moreover, these solid materials must be etched or grooved to disperse light from the light source that must be inserted into a cavity formed in the material. These materials are inherently soft in the sense that they would not be practical for use where they would be continuously exposed to harsh weather conditions or more than occasional physical wear and tear. There is still an unmet need for a means to provide for fabricated hard material objects having incorporated illumination that is durable under even harsh conditions and can be presented with almost any desired design, or multiple alternating designs, in almost any desired color.
Recently, solar powered stepping stones have been described. These, however, still rely on a sealed housing provided with a soft-material translucent lens through which the solar powered light can diffuse. The translucent material is preferably an acrylic resin which will not support heavy vehicular or pedestrian traffic. What is missing from the art are fabricated resistant solid material objects that are self-illuminating, wherein the power for the illumination is provided by solar power, and where the solar-powered object maintains its durability even under harsh conditions including the damaging effects of physical and chemical weathering and heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and can be offered in almost any desired design in almost any desired color.
Recently stepping stone illuminating systems having a light source embedded within the material from which an object is made, have been d scribed. While these systems are generally durable when exposed to the traffic expected when used as walkway or driveway building materials, they do not provide any means for replacing a worn-out, damaged, or imperfect light source. In the recently described systems, all optical fibers, electronic circuitry, and light sources are permanently sealed and permanently imbedded within the material used to form the object, such as a paving block. To replace a light source in this system, the entire block would have to be replaced. Because the electrical supply means extend outside of the block, this system also suffers from the disadvantage that the paving blocks must be installed over a compressible aggregate, such as finely crushed gravel, in order to provide for the external wiring. Although this system allows for the use of a variety of colored light sources, once a color for the lights in a given block is chosen, there is no way to change the color of the lights, such as from orange for Halloween celebration to red and green for a Christmas theme, without replacing the entire block. Furthermore, this system makes no provision for a choice of design of a given block such as the choice to change from a pumpkin to a Christmas tree—again, the only choice is to change the entire block.
Thus, it has been shown that all of the present known attempts to provide for a self-illuminating fabricated solid present problems that include solids that require chambers, grooves, channels, pockets or panels of significant size for housing a light bulb or other light source from which light is emitted through a soft material located on the top surface of the solid. Additionally, none of these devices provides for an illuminating fabricated solid object, such as a paving block or stepping stone that has the strength, versatility and functionality of a concrete block or stepping stone, that provides for a lighted surface that includes various colors, patterns, or designs of light which may cover either part or the entire surface of the block or stone, where the light source means may be directly connected to the solid, or, alternatively, where the light source may be indirectly connected to the solid, by way of a fiber optic cable, for example, to provide for a plurality of solid objects to receive light from just one or a few light source means, and where the light source means, the color of the light, and the design that is displayed on a visible surface can b changed or replaced easily and rapidly without having to replace the entire object.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide for self-illuminating, fabricated objects, such as self-illuminating paving blocks, building stones, or statuary that emit light of one or a plurality of colors from their surfaces while maintaining the strength and durability expected from a comparable non-illuminating concrete paver or stepping stone, and that can do so at low cost while being attractive in appearance, versatile, functional, and durable. Such self-illuminating objects should be able to be manufactured in almost any desired shape, with almost any design, or designs, in almost any desired color, where the colors, design, and light source means may be rapidly and easily changed or replaced without the need to replace the entire object assembly, where the fabricated hard objects can be used on either hard or compressible surfaces, as desired, and where one or a plurality of solid objects may receive light from one or a small number of light source means.